**Karen Kubey and Pollyanna Rhee of AFHny paint bench interiors for The Point.** Jason Gibbs

On a typical afternoon, The Point Community Development Corporation's atrium shares circus skills, art, and study students and staff along with 70 backpacks and coats. Benches provide storage underneath the seats and introduce a new but subtle design distinction to the atrium, often used for art exhibitions as well as informal neighborhood gatherings. Seven members on the Architecture for Humanity New York chapter's (AFHny) design team built the benches over several weekends at spaces donated by Brooklyn Wood Shop and The Point's art teacher.

The need for more space, especially for a flourishing after-school program, is a familiar problem faced by The Point, an arts and cultural non-profit located in a former Hunts Point bagel factory. AFHny faced the challenge for the group's first volunteer-based design/build project. Last month, after a year of site visits, charrettes, arguments and trading copious drawings, The Point acquired 15 site-specific benches with integrated storage along the walls of its atrium.

Members of AFHny are excited to see how students will use the space fulfilling part of the organization's goal to advance design and social responsibility in New York City. “We're all in our twenties, we're not established, we spend five months at work doing bathroom details,” says Karen Kubey, the project's coordinator. “Jobs like the project at The Point are really important. We're excited about seeing our ideas realized.”

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Pollyanna Rhee is a member of Architecture for Humanity New York's project team for The Point. She also used to check mail for n+1 magazine, a skill arguably more relevant to her bachelor's degree in politics than whitewashing plywood.